A Year Of Journaling With The Violets - Week 47

Over the next 52 weeks, we'll use journaling as a tool for deep self-discovery—a chance to reflect, embrace, and shape your future with honesty and without fear. Each week a new Oracle card provides a prompt to guide you, but remember, this is your journey. There are no rules. Take what resonates and leave the rest. Whether you prefer pen and paper or a digital format, scripting, doodling, or writing, the key is to engage and enjoy the process.

We'll be using Yanik Silver's "The Cosmic Journey Oracle."

This week's card: #18 "Listen. In Stillness You Meet Your True Self."

Background music by my friend, the incredible Blossom Violet, was recorded LIVE on January 7, 2025. Be sure to follow her for more beautiful piano tracks! I've also included her music in my journaling playlists, which you can find here on my teacher's profile, at the bottom of the "Home" tab.

And please join us in the Insight Timer Group: ASK YOUR GUIDES -- guided, grounded, and always growing.

Transcript

Hello and welcome,

Beautiful Insight Timer community!

Today we are on week 47 of our year of journaling.

Seems hard to believe we've only got 5 weeks to go!

Alright,

So today,

As always,

I have pulled a card from the Cosmic Journey Oracle by Yannick Silver,

And I got number 18.

Listen.

In stillness,

You meet your true self.

Do you hear that?

It's the whisper of the universe asking you to listen.

The loudest clamor doesn't necessarily correspond to our truest heart.

Imagine a pristine lake.

If there are too many waves disturbing the surface,

You cannot make out what's at the bottom.

But when the water is still,

The image becomes crystal clear.

In stillness,

We get the rare opportunity to listen with yet another set of ears.

Quiet contemplation,

Mindfulness,

Meditation,

And just doing nothing all have even more value in our always-on lives.

Everything is talking to us if we simply slow down to listen fully.

In those subtle whispers,

You will meet your truest self.

This is the same one that's been talking to you all along.

And our journaling question.

How can I cultivate the habit of stillness on a more regular basis in my life?

This is a good one for me to think about because I tend to always have some kind of noise around me.

I live in the woods.

It's beautiful.

It's peaceful.

I work here remotely from home.

And I've always got music going on,

Or I'm listening to Insight Timer,

Or I have some kind of noise working in the background.

And I'm not really sure why,

But sitting in silence has never been my thing.

However,

I've been trying to work on that one,

And I think this is a great journaling prompt for me to think about how I can cultivate that habit of stillness on a more regular basis.

So let's put some time on the clock.

Let's listen to Blossom Violet's beautiful piano music in the background,

Which,

By the way,

Is something I listen to often.

And let's do some journaling.

All right,

My friends.

I'm curious to hear what kind of thoughts you jotted down for this one.

Did you find ideas for how you can cultivate the habit of stillness on a more regular basis?

Obviously,

Insight Timer is a great way to do that.

There are so many beautiful guided meditations on the app,

And I've used many of them.

But as I was saying,

I don't tend to sit in total silence.

And if I do,

I find I get a little uncomfortable with that.

My mind starts racing.

That's okay.

I'm going to try to just sit for a couple of minutes every day and just no noise,

No background music,

Just enjoy the sounds of the nature around me.

Like I said,

Living in the woods,

I've got plenty of that.

And there is another activity here that I would like to recommend.

It's in the book.

Sit still for 18 minutes and simply listen.

All right,

18 minutes might be a lot for me.

It might be great for some of you.

I think I'm going to start with three minutes.

As thoughts come,

Let them go like clouds passing.

Listen fully to a deeper truth around you.

After the 18 minutes,

The next word or phrase you hear is your answer.

Write it in your cosmic journal.

I'm definitely going to try this one.

But please share with me.

Let me know what thoughts you have on this one.

Are you someone who generally sits in silence in the morning or the afternoon or maybe in the evening?

Obviously at night,

I'm sitting in silence or sleeping in silence.

But again,

Not really.

I do have background music playing at night while I go to sleep or something on inside timer,

Maybe a little bit of rain sound.

I do enjoy having some background sounds.

I would love to hear if you have any tips or suggestions or if you have a process that you follow.

Anything that could help me or help you to sit in silence.

I'm going to give this one a try.

All right,

My friends.

Until next week,

I hope you're having an amazing day.

I look forward to hearing from you as always.

And continue to shine like the beautiful diamond that you are.

Reviews

What a delightful difference journalling with the actual cards. And so timely too as it’s a New Moon today and it’s a day I decided that I really need to take a Happy Hiatus. 10 years producing content for the Insight Timer app and 1 year of constant creation of my video courses off app has been a slog. The current course I am working on is not flowing as the others have. Perhaps I’m tired or probably it’s not quite the right time for its release so tools are being put down today until the New Year and what will happen instead has the potential to be much more fruitful. My contract with my current non-ideal email provider is coming to an end - I was advised badly by someone I trusted - and I have found a much better supplier that integrates seamlessly with my online school - that migration can start from today (in thinking only, as there is plenty of time for action). In the meantime, something has emerged that has never been seen in the history of humanity (if not the cosmos). This needs time to germinate and flower as it changes everything. Journalling like this has become weekly but now I need to get back to doing it daily - thanks for the pointer to the deck. I so need to sit and listen but have realised my daily dog walks in nature do give me that silence - will watch for the signs and thoughts that come out of the blue.

It’s a hard thing to do. It would also require one to be in a place where you know there would be silence. Almost always my husband is here talking on his speaker phone. I might have to set aside a time right after work before he gets home. I’m going to try the 18 minutes tomorrow.

Loved the practice that was suggested and how the first word is the answer. Thank you 💖